Mint 17.3 Cinnamon test install...

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amiga500

1484 posts

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#195294 14-Apr-2016 11:58

Linux Format have this distro as their cover disk so I thought I'd give it a try as I'd downloaded the iso earlier. Seems to have a lot of polish. Install went flawlessly. Now, this is not a Windows 7 bash, but

when I updated it it took 2 to 3 minutes to download all the updates from the UC Mirror, and no more than 12-13 minutes for them to install.

I honestly think as of now that the LTS versions of Ubuntu and Mint have fewer problems and issues than Windows 10.

I will give an update in a week or two..

gzt

17111 posts

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#1533037 14-Apr-2016 14:07

That's an interesting observation.

Also, ordinary users have control over updates. ; ).

amiga500

1484 posts

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#1536964 20-Apr-2016 20:09

Seems to be working well. No screen freezes. My HP multi-function prints perfectly. Simple scan works fine. No wireless problems.

When updating software Linux Mint 17.3 Cinnamon offered to switch to a faster server which was fine, but might be a bit difficult for a beginner computer user.

Then I got a warning that the UC mirror server was not up to date, so I changed back to the default server just by clicking that option so it was very easy really, and updating was still very fast.

Firefox with Youtube download as mp4 addon works perfectly.

I signed into Geekzone with no problem but it said I was running an ad blocker but when I checked the addons I wasn't so that was a bit strange.

And it shuts down in 3 to 4 seconds!

So, pretty impressed really.

gzt

17111 posts

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#1536977 20-Apr-2016 20:23

I forget what the default browser is. I usually install Chromium.

Then some point later I have to install Chrome for the proprietary media extensions required for Lightbox and similar. ; ).

Gilco2

1556 posts

Uber Geek

#1536980 20-Apr-2016 20:32

I loved it but am back on Windows 10. Tried Mint for a month and Epson WF3640 wifi printer was easy to set up and flawless. I have Kindle and like to back up books in case Amazon delete them. Some books are no longer available and cant be downloaded again. I came across a new format that Calibre couldn't convert. Looking on internet found that at present only Windows has a fix not MACs and it wont work with Linux. Cant remember if it was KF8 or the KFX. Anyway it can only be converted on Windows for time being. Only reason back to Windows. When it gets where cant convert on Windows either, I will desert Amazon and only use Kobe and back to Linux full time. Linux mint was nice and smooth to use quick updates when I wanted to update so no interruption with notifications etc when watching films etc. Linux mint is nicely polished

HTPC Intel Pentium G3258 cpu, Gigabyte H97n-wifi motherboard, , 8GB DDR3 ram, onboard graphics. Hauppuage HVR 5500 tuner, Silverstone LC16M case, Windows 10 pro 64 bit using Nextpvr and Kodi

LesF

176 posts

Master Geek

#1576051 17-Jun-2016 22:27

I always stick with Debian on my Linux box - usually the equipment left over after I upgrade my main gaming box (win10 & Steam right now) but I have installed the last few versions of Mint on vmware player to see how they are going.

The desktop is quite pleasant, I usually go with xfce for simple layout with all the basics provided, but have not found any problems with Cinnamon, it's very tidy. Don't restrict yourself if you want to see more, installing additional desktop managers is easy, and the MATE desktop is worth checking out too. A lot of popular criticism is targeted at how configurable a desktop is, but it really comes down to how well documented it is, which counts if you prefer click-and-forget config wizards or if you prefer tapping cryptic settings into a text file.

Their package manager is fairly standard and provides most of the stuff that an average user would need. Recently I started looking for new programming languages and found that Rust and a few others require getting hands-on with GIT, downloading and building to be up to date, rather than relying on pre-packaged versions. My advice is get all your basics set up from the provided packages, research and understand dependencies and build processes before getting too carried away about projects that are not currently supported in the default package repositories.

malpasolan

30 posts

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#1576153 18-Jun-2016 11:26

LesF:

I always stick with Debian on my Linux box

Debian is my distro of choice along with Xfce as my desktop environment. Cinnamon isn't too bad either as a DE.

Also, KDE Plasma 5 is looking very good too.

networkn

Networkn
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#1576162 18-Jun-2016 11:40

I installed this last night in a VM. I was mightily impressed that it managed to passthru bluetooth!

It's snappier than any other machine I've run on 4GB, but it is running on a Pro Series SSD and on an I7 processor, so I guess most things would be fast.

I like the UI.

It would never replace windows for me, but it was an interesting excercise.